Cowboy Casanova (Rough Riders #12)(183)

and announced he was canceling his membership. He’d appreciated their friendship and

support over the years, but sometimes a man had to make a choice and he’d made his.”


Ainsley couldn’t believe her ears. “What did the other guys—his friends—say?”


“What could they say? They were stunned. So I followed Bennett out to his truck and

asked him why he was leaving the club. He said being with you changed his life.”


Anger rose. Bennett could tell Layla that, but not her?


You have no right to the anger. You gave him no choice but to keep his feelings from

you when you told him it was over.


Layla tapped on the desk to get her attention. “Tell me what happened between you two.

”


Despite her distraction, Ainsley gave Layla the rundown. She tried for detachment in

the telling, but by the time she finished, the pressure and misery from the past couple

of days nearly had her in tears.


“So everything with him was all just an experiment to you and you can just walk away

like nothing happened?”


“No!” She jabbed her finger at Layla. “You’re the one who said I should give the

club a try. I did. You’re the one who said I should embrace my sexuality. I did. It

was supposed to be one weekend out of my life and nothing more.”


“But it wasn’t enough, was it?” Layla said softly. “I had nothing to do with you

agreeing to be Bennett’s sub, outside the club for a month. So don’t pretend you were

coerced.”


“I know that, Layla. I’m not denying it. I’ve learned…I’ve accepted that I prefer

to be submissive when it comes to sex.”


“But?”


“But after seeing how I jeopardized my job with one misstep, regarding Ben, I knew it

had to end. All of it.” Even when I didn’t want it to.


“Why? What you do in a private club isn’t anyone’s business but yours.”


“Wrong. What would happen if my coworkers or bosses found out I’m a sexual

submissive? That I do whatever Bennett demands of me, without question? That I’m

involved with a man who’s a sexual dominant at a sex club? And please don’t tell me

it doesn’t matter because it does. Maybe not in all lines of work, but definitely in

this one and definitely in this part of the country. And Bennett keeps the Dom side of

himself hidden from his family and friends too, so it’s not just me who knows the

risks of our preferences becoming common knowledge.”


Ainsley sank back in her chair.


“I get that, A, but don’t you see how much Bennett cares about you? He’s removing

the big obstacle that prevents you two from being together.”


“I don’t want that burden from him.”


“Too bad, you’ve got it,” Layla snapped, “and now you have to deal with it. So tell

me how you plan to?”


Stung, she retorted, “How long do you think before Bennett gets bored with me and

misses the sexual variety that defined his time as a Dom at the Rawhide?”


“Bennett has always been very committed to the club. Making it a place where everyone

who’s a member is comfortable because he struggled for years with accepting who he was